​While searching the internet for something my daughter *needs* for her book report presentation (a teeny tiny plastic elephant) I saw the ultimate tangent of a trend I never understood. A DIY mounted plastic animal heads craft. I mean…what?!? We are taking it to every level here.

​Displaying animal heads on your wall. I guess it started with zealous taxidermists and proud hunters.And then…people maybe decided to take back the head mount idea? Because recently it is everywhere. And by everywhere I mean in the aisles of Target.

Now there are crafts to make a head mount. For kids.Knit a head mount.Paper mache a head mount.Cut your toys up to make plastic head mounts. These fall under a new term I recently learned: 'horrible adorables'. Because even I can admit some are pretty darn cute even though I get a shiver up my spine when I gaze upon them.

Are they cute? Sometimes. Do they make sense? No. Do they creep me out? Always. Yes, I appreciate animals. I am not a fan of hunting. Does this trend glorify hunting? Do you like or hate the animal featured on the mount? Because it’s just a head, right? It’s dead. It’s not a still life or a sketch. It’s a representation of a beheaded animal.

Is it a show of respect? As I pick apart this trend, I realize that the issue I have is not with the heads. It is with the mounts. The plaque behind the trophy indicates victory and therefore death, killing, and purposeful waste. I think that sums up my personal opinion.

To clarify, I have some examples to illustrate what I find OKAY and NOT OKAY about this trend. Just so you know. If I visit you and you have a head mounted on the wall, I will not rip it down or slyly start a dinner table debate over such trivial decorating preferences. But here on my blog I do like to go there. ​You like unicorns (who doesn’t?) and you see a paper mache craft of a unicorn head that you put on a mount and hang on your wall. NOT OKAY. If you like unicorns why would you want to emulate a hunter who killed one? Maybe killed the last one.

{Related note: they found proof of unicorns. Told ya. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-28/newly-discovered-fossil-reveals-when-siberian-unicorns-last-roamed-the-earth}

When is it okay to display the mounted head of an animal on your wall?If a vicious animal attacks you (unprovoked) and you kill it with your bare hands in an even fight, and the carcass is not needed for science or the investigation, sure, go ahead, mount it and put it on your wall. OKAY. Man vs beast, you won. Flaunt it. I’m thinking JAWS.

Suggestion: People heads on mounts. In awful taste, right? Disturbing. Not right. Okay, I think that made my whole point.

Body intact,~gregorific​​

Discussion Questions: 1. Do you have any head mounts in your house? If so, explain.2. What do you think of this blossoming trend? Pro or Con? Support your answer with humorous life experiences.3. How far could this trend go? ​